The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed ForcesVladimir Putin observed the action of the troops of the Union State of Russia and Belarus during the main stage of the Zapad-2017 joint strategic military exercises at the Luzhsky training ground in Leningrad Region.

The Zapad-2017 exercises are taking place at Russian and Belarusian training grounds on September 14–20. They involve about 12,700 troops, about 70 aircraft and helicopters, up to 680 units of combat hardware, including about 250 tanks, up to 200 guns, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, and 10 warships.The main goals of the drill are to upgrade the operational coordination of various command levels, to integrate troop and weapon advanced command and control systems, to test new charter documents and to allow commanders at all levels to practice combat action planning based on the experience of present-day armed conflicts.